Reality tv

[funkyrich]

Where did the current trend for 'reality tv' come from? I'M getting sick of it!

[violaine]

It depends how you define 'reality TV'. In terms of reality TV elimination shows, it began with the first series of UK Big Brother back in 2000; in terms of reality TV in general, you could go back to the 'docu-soap' craze of 1997/8 onwards, which began with Driving School.

[andy hughes]

You may be getting sick of it, but you are in a minority as a viewer. TV companies love 'reality TV' (an oxymoron if ever there was one!) because it's cheap to make, and produces massive viewing figures - that's nirvana to tv companies - maximum revenue for minimum outlay, so it's very very popular. The bubble will burst eventually - these trends do move on, so hang on in there - remember 'NYPD Blue' is on Thursday nights - be soothed by that thought.

[BenDToy]

If I remember correctly there was a sort of reality TV in the 70s called something like "The Family". It was more a kind of fly-on-the-wall type of thing, but still pretty much reality TV. Maybe even more so than BB et al because the situations were real rather than staged.

[gazzawazza]

Yep, BenDToy, it featured the Wilkins family of Reading. They did a follow-up sometime in the mid-nineties.

There was also one in the 80s called (I think) The Wedding which followed a Welsh couple in the build-up to (you've guessed it haven't you?) their wedding.

[violaine]

I also remember a fly on the wall show from the early/mid 1990s called Sylvania Waters.

[funkyrich]

Thanks for your comments and thoughts.